Autumn Festival Chapter 3

"Now normally Mae would take weeks to design something, but we haven't got time for that. So I think bringing all your maid outfits will come in handy and she can just alter something."

"But why aren't you bringing your Evil outfit?"

"Oh, that was my first outfit. I keep it at home now. Mae designed me an even more elaborate one I wear at the Tower. You'll like it!"

Quill-Weave and her maid were riding on the cart, heading for the Imperial City to meet with Quill-Weave's 'special' tailor, Mae.

"Wait," the khajiit said, frowning at a realization. "I'm not going to have to talk in khajiit-speak am I?"

"Well, it's expected out on the streets of course. No different than in Anvil. But in private we can talk normally."

"Good. I mean, I'm not just off the boat from Elsweyr! I think it's stupid that so many of us refuse to give up the speech patterns of Ta'agra. It just feels like enforced ignorance. There are, admittedly, some khajiits that never really learn Common properly and just try to translate it word-for-word. But really, it's just being lazy. And I think it makes us come across as more barbaric than we really are."

Quill-Weave looked at her maid. It seemed there was more going on between those furry ears than she might once have assumed.

"That's... very astute of you. I mean, look at me! I was born in the Marsh, and now I write books in Common. Believe me, if I had to translate word-for-word... Actually it wouldn't even make sense then. Jel is weird."

They rode on, finally passing into the Imperial City before dropping the cart and horses off at a stable. They then headed into the city on foot. The maid duly kept pace behind Quill-Weave, despite her obvious desire to gawk. At last they came to the little stand Mae used as a front for her real business in exotic clothing.

"Quill-Weave! This one is glad to see her favorite customer again! And this would be your maid?"

"Indeed! What gave it away?" Quill asked, then looked at her partner's clothes again.

"Oh."

"And what is your name, beautiful child of the Mane?" Mae asked.

Suddenly the Maid's eyes shot to Quill's, who returned the look with a suddenly intense gaze.

The maid's smile grew large and toothy.

She growled-spat something unintelligible, and Quill was sorely disappointed.

"Oh! You have not translated your name to Common? Well then, shall this one just call you 'Evil Maid' then?"

"Maid of Evil, thank you," she replied and winked at Quill-Weave.

"Ah. Well then! It is as this one suspected. You've come to Mae for special wares! Come, follow this one. These things are best discussed indoors..."

*******

"...but she insisted anyway."

"I see," said the khajiit tailor as she appraised the albino maid. "So I've only a few hours. I can't do anything as elaborate as your customized costume of course. But that shouldn't be a problem. I'm sure you'd want to keep most of the aspects in keeping with this archaic style."

"Archaic?" Quill turned her head quizzically. "What's archaic about it?"

Mae squinted at Quill-Weave. "Are you serious? You've even got her wearing a ruffled headband? Do you have any idea how silly that is for a khajiit? Do you even know what it's purpose is?"

"Well... no. I thought that was what they all wear!"

"Quill," her maid interrupted. "It's okay. I like wearing it. Really I do!"

"But... this isn't a normal maid outfit?"

Mae rolled her eyes. "Quill. NO maids wear outfits like this. I know some strippers that do, though they don't wear them long."

"But... you wore this when I interviewed you, didn't you?" Quill asked her maid.

"I'm sorry, Quill. I... knew your attraction to tradition. I knew you'd like it. So I had a few made for me. And they're not as rare as she seems to think either."

But the tailor was measuring the maid's waist and had lost interest in the conversation.

"Do you want to see some of the other outfits I brought?"

"Hmm? Oh... no. I am getting inspired now. Excuse me. I need to make a few more measurements..."

Suddenly the albino khajiit let out a squeal as the tailor brought a measuring tape up from her heel to her groin.

"Inseam. Sorry. No time for pleasantries if I'm going to get this done today," the tailor said, then tugged her blouse away at her chest and peered inside.

"Good. No bra. That'll make things much easier... Quill?"

Quill looked at Mae. "Hmm?"

"Is she shy?"

Quill looked back to her maid.

"I can speak for myself. I am not shy. I want to be just as bold as Quill-Weave herself is!"

Mae the tailor grinned and flicked out one unusually sharp claw.

"Are you sure about that?"

But the maid nodded confidently. "Absolutely. I can be just as Evil as Quill, I'm sure!"

The claw bit into her blouse at the dead center of her chest and ripped a perfectly straight tear an inch long through the lacy border and into the material itself. But before Quill or her maid could say anything, Mae grabbed both sides of the blouse and tore it open from chest to skirt in one fluid motion.

"Mae!" Quill exclaimed as her maid's blouse fluttered to her sides like two flags, revealing its contents.

"Oh please. We're all women here. Now - put this tape over your nipples and the edge of the blouse on top of them.

The maid did as she was told while the tailor stepped back.

"Hmm. Yes. You have a fine figure. And you're compliant. That tape won't come off easily! But that is just what's needed for the woman who will wear this maid uniform! Now take it off and leave it here. Come back in two hours. Now go away, both of you. I have work to do!"

"Um... Quill... could you hand me that bag of outfits?"

Quill-Weave complied as her maid began to undress.

"And... um... could you look away Please? I feel naked."

Quill shook her head and wrenched her eyes away. "Oh! Sorry."

Mae took up the shredded outfit and set it on a workbench nearby. "Some people! I know Quill. She's a pent-up repressed prude. But you? You're a khajiit for heaven's sake! You've got fur. Other than those few strategic places, you're always dressed! The only time I've ever seen a khajiit get that embarrassed before was when I stripped her in front of her..."

Suddenly Mae's eyes opened up and she looked at Quill-Weave, who had her back turned. Then she looked back to the maid, who smiled weakly and shrugged.

"OH! Oh, I'm sorry. I... Oh!" Mae whispered in Ta'agra.

The albino khajiit held a finger over her mouth in the universal symbol. Mae shut up dutifully and rushed to help her get dressed again.

"I'm sorry!" she whispered again. "I had no idea!"

"It's okay," the maid replied, "She doesn't really realize it either yet."

"Okay, she's dressed," Mae said, switching back to Common. "Now go away and leave me be. I'll be done in two hours!"

And with that the tailor shooed them out of her secret lair, though both Quill-Weave and her maid started fingering various curious bits of apparel around the place.

"No no no. I need no distractions. You can gawk later. For now, get out and don't come back early! And close the door on your way out!"

******

"Is she always like that?"

Quill-Weave and the albino maid had taken refuge in a nearby restaurant, though the khajiit had insisted on taking the food outside so she could watch the people walking by and look at the amazing buildings - with the ever-present White Gold Tower looming behind it all.

"Yeah, pretty much. But I do trust her. You've seen her work. I don't know how much she can get done in a couple of hours, but it's a sure bet it's better than anyone else could do."

"Oh Quilly, thank you so much! I'm so excited, I'm practically giddy! And this place..."

"Never been to the CIty before?"

"Does it show?"

"Only a lot," Quill laughed while they sipped at spiced wine and watched the odd assortment of people.

She felt a warm, furred hand squeeze her own and Quill looked back at her maid. The expression on her white khajiit face said all that needed to be said, and Quill squeezed back.

But finally the allotted time had passed and at last they returned to the little stand. The door was unlocked behind it and a little bell went off when they entered.

"Is that you Quill?" came the voice of Mae from somewhere down in the hidden section.

"Yes! We're here!"

"Good. Just making some last minute adjustments. Come on down."

The tailor was sitting behind an odd machine, pumping her foot up and down while concentrating on a bit of cloth. But as they approached, she stopped the pumping, drew the cloth towards herself and bit on a piece of thread to separate it from the machine.

"Done! Now Quill, I want you to go back upstairs while your maid and I get this properly fitted. We'll call you down when we're ready."

Her maid nodded vigorously, but the smile on her face brought a sympathetic one to Quill's own face, and she went back upstairs.

She was beginning to get concerned about the time when finally Mae called up. "Okay Quill, come on down."

What she saw when she came back was, as expected of Mae the Miracle Worker, incredible.

She had not simply redesigned the old outfit. The outfit her maid now wore was a completely different piece, made in some ultra-black yet shiny material that Quill-Weave had never seen before. Yet the white ruffles were still there. But if Quill had thought her Evil outfit's neckline was low, this was positively nonexistent! A plunge as deep as her own outfit's side-slits were high. And the skirt - if such a thing could still be called such - was almost as impractical.

"What do you think!?" Beamed the cute maid, and she turned around to show an almost backless dress that revealed the skirt from this side really was pointless.

Quill blinked her nictitating membranes. And gulped.

"Isn't it the most evil thing you've ever seen? Wait, check this out! Garter straps!"

Mae stepped out from behind her. "And this band around her leg holds knives to complete the Evil Maid Assassin look."

Quill blinked again.

"Oh, don't worry. They're just butter knives. Mae says anything sharper might damage the fabric. Have you ever seen anything like it? Black as night but shiny as..."

"I call it Lay-Tex," Mae grinned. "My own invention! Tex for textile and Lay... for other reasons."

"Well, say something Quilly! Don't you love it?!"

"I... um... it's really something! How in hell do your boobs not come out of that?"

Mae answered that one. "The magic of double-sided sticky tape!"

"But... won't your panties be on display like... all the time?"

"Oh! No panties!" the albino beamed.

The look Quill gave back must have said as much as the words she would have uttered.

"No, no no. It's not that. Look. The skirt comes off..."

Quill quickly covered her eyes as her maid removed the skirt completely.

"No, look! I'm still dressed! She calls it a Leopard! It hooks underneath here. See! No panties to worry about!"

Quill peeked. While what was left was certainly sexy, it did still manage to cover the most important bits.

Quill gulped again.

******

They began the ride back, her maid now back in a conventional outfit.

"You don't like it," her maid said, dejected.

"It's not that I don't like it! Really! I just... it is awfully revealing, isn't it?"

"Well, yes. But so is yours! I bet your new one is even more!"

Quill thought about that. "You're probably right. I'm sorry, it's just... I'm not used to seeing you like that."

"Quilly, you saw a lot more of me than that last night."

"Well, yes. But that was just me. This would be everybody!"

The albino maid looked at her, but she refused to take her eyes off the road. "Quill-Weave, are you... jealous?"

That got her attention.

"No! I'm not jealous. Why would I be jealous? You're just my maid!"

The silence that followed was deafening and Quill immediately regretted saying it. But it hung around like the steady 'clop-clop' of the horse's hooves.